


A Strange Feeling

by that_nerd_aesthetic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ALL THE SPOILERS, Bisexual Allura (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Jealous Keith (Voltron), Lesbian Romelle (Voltron), M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Post Season 7, Post-Canon, Spoilers for Season 7, and then the Power of Gay happens, i got so annoyed i have to fix it, literally so many spoilers, shiro is a tired Gay space dad, so it begins with allura/lance, starts off with actual canon ships and then I change Everything, you better believe Adam isn't dead in my canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-25 19:38:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15647589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_nerd_aesthetic/pseuds/that_nerd_aesthetic
Summary: Keith had not expected many things in his life.He hadn't expected to find out he was a Galra, or to reunite with his Galra mother.He hadn't expected to become the saviour of the world alongside his fellow Paladins.He hadn't expected to survive the explosion of the robo-beast in the battle for Earth's freedom.He also hadn't expected Lance's pickup lines to Allura to end in blushes and shy glances, instead of the usual hit over the head.And he definitely hadn't expected to feel... strangely upset... over this.





	1. A Strange Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written fic in years, but season 7 has me so mad I feel the need to singlehandedly fix the Voltron romance storylines. So! Here we are! 
> 
> This fic starts off with the canon pairings they left us with (why did they leave us with this mess). I know a lot of people, including myself, are angry over the weirdly forced heterosexual ships season 7 seemed to give us. It was just so awkwardly done? And let's not even talk about canon Adam, ok? 
> 
> So, there will be brief Allura/Lance and one-sided Acxa/Keith at the beginning of this fic, but have no fear! I won't leave you with that lol.

Returning to Earth had not gone how Keith had expected it to. 

For one thing, he had expected a nice long nap, or perhaps some time to fully stretch out his legs after the months-long trip it took in the lions to get there. But mainly, he’d dreamed of happy reunions for his team. Lance and Hunk would be able to see their big families again, and Pidge could be reunited with her parents. Even Shiro might be able to suck up his pride and finally have a good long talk to Adam, and tell him how much he cares about him. 

But, as he opened his bleary eyes to see the stark white hospital ceiling above him, he thought how all those ideas had turned to dust the moment they had entered the Milky Way. 

“Keith? Keith! Thank goodness you’re awake!” 

Keith groggily turned his head to the side and took in the woman sitting beside him. 

“Mum..?” His voice cracked with dryness and he swallowed to try and ease his throat, “What happened, where are we?” 

Her eyes brimmed with tears as she clutched his hand on the bed, “You’re in a hospital on Earth. Do you remember what happened?” 

Keith thought, his mind flashing with images of Galra ships and the quiznacking robo-beast fight before he remembered the last, arduous journey to fly the self-destructing robot out into space. He remembered how his heart thudded fast and hard in his chest with the realisation that this was it – this was the end – and the surge of regret that he couldn’t save his team mixed with the confusing moment of peace he felt at dying by the sides of his comrades- his team.

“The others,” Keith choked out, “are they okay? Are they hurt?” He sat up and felt a dizzying rush to his head.

Krolia stood in alarm, “they’re fine Keith, they’re here resting, just like you. Just… lie down, okay?” 

“I- I need to see them,” he insisted, kicking his legs over the side of the bed and making to stand. 

“You can’t, Keith! They’re still unconscious, and you need to rest”

But Keith refused to listen. He couldn’t just stay in bed not knowing the fate of his teammates. He’d expected to die – he should have died. Fear clutched at him that he was being lied to and he was the only one to make it out alive. 

That would be- 

That- 

He couldn’t deal with that. 

“I need to see them,” he repeated because his mother just didn’t seem to understand. “I need to… I… need…” his voice trailed off as his eyes grew steadily heavier and he slumped back against the pillows, “I ha…” 

He faintly heard the sound of his mother calling out for a nurse in panic before the darkness completely overtook him. 

+

He opened his eyes to blue. 

“You would be the last one to wake up, why am I not surprised” 

Keith blinked slowly, trying to focus his vision. A boy with brown skin, blue eyes and a bright smile sat on the side of his bed, leaning over him as if to see if he were truly awake. 

“L-lance?”

The boy grinned wolfishly at him, though his eyes glimmered with relief, “The one and only, sleepyhead! I can’t believe you actually woke up on my watch though… Wow, maybe my awesome presence is enough to bring people out of a coma?!” He tilted his head as though considering that, then shook it as if to clear his thoughts. “Still, man, you sure were out for a long time, it was kinda freaking us all out, which is totally rude by the way. I’ll have you know- what… what are you doing?”

Lance spluttered to a halt as Keith slowly raised his hand to rest on Lance’s chest. Keith was having some trouble keeping up with the rapid-fire speech. But this was Lance, his teammate. And if Lance was here, then Lance was alive, he was alive. The area behind his eyes tingled and tightened at Keith’s fingers dug into Lance’s shirt and he let out an unsteady breath as he felt the steady pulse thrumming beneath his palm. 

“Uh… buddy..?” 

Keith jolted out of his trance and darted his eyes up to meet Lance’s bemused expression. He looked between his hand and Lance’s face a couple of times before realising what he was doing and snatching his hand back to cradle it in his lap, as though he had been stung. 

Keith cleared his throat, trying to dispel the awkwardness that had surrounded them. “Er, so… you’re alive, then?” 

Did- did he really just say that? 

Keith felt his face flushing as Lance threw his head back and laughed at the question, “Yep! Still alive! Though the universe is still trying it’s best to kill us, huh?” Lance narrowed his eyes at that, “what did we ever do to it, anyway.” 

“Probably has something to do with ripping through space and time with wormholes?” 

Lance scoffed, “Like it wasn’t trying to kill us before then, Keith, come on”. 

Keith just shrugged. He’d long since given up trying to figure out how they ended up in these kinds of situations. And honestly, he had more pressing questions. 

“The others, are they all ok?” Keith asked, his heart clenching in his chest again. 

“They’re fine, Keith, I promise,” Lance’s assured with softened eyes, “they all look a lot better than you, I can tell you that! I guess that’s what you get for being the closest one to the blast.” Lance crossed his arms, “which by the way, don’t do again, ok? No more closest-to-the-explosion-mister-cool-guy, ok? I think you’ve had enough of that for a lifetime.” 

Keith bristled, “I don’t do crazy stunts that often, moron. And I recall you being the one with the solo near-death experience this time around.” 

“Yeah,” Lance scoffed but his eyes darkened, “this time it was a close call for me, but don’t try and tell me it isn’t normally you with the near misses!” 

They stared at each other a while, arms crossed and expressions stony, before they both cracked and burst out laughing. It just seemed so absurd, after all that had happened to them over the years, to argue over something so stupid. They would do what they had to, and they knew it. 

Their laughter was interrupted by the door opening to reveal Allura, dressed in a hospital gown and bandages much like the rest of them. Her eyes widened as she took in Keith’s conscious state. 

“Keith! Thank goodness you’re awake!” She rushed over to clutch his hand, giving him a watery smile, “we were so worried about you.” 

Keith gently squeezed her hands and gave a reassuring smile, “sorry to worry everyone, I feel fine though, really.” 

Lance snorted and raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

“Really,” Keith assured. “Just a little tired, is all.” 

“Well at least that’s relatable,” Lance admitted with a wry smile, “hey, maybe now we’ll finally get a break?! A little R&R, whadda ya say, Princess?” He shot Allura his best puppy-dog eyes and Keith was surprised to see her smile fondly back. 

“I think that can be arranged,” Allura agreed, “I think we’ve more than deserved it.” 

Lance cocked an eyebrow, “deserved it? Oh, I don’t know, it’s not like we saved the world or anything – oh, wait, that’s exactly what we did, huh.” 

Keith muffled his laughter under his hand, “I guess… a break would be ok” 

Lance punched his arm, “Keith I keep telling ya, you’re a workaholic. Don’t worry though, I’ll teach you how to relax, okay? You know what I’m thinking? A Voltron beach party!” Lance’s eyes shone with excitement, “I can take you guys back to my home town! We can have fun and relax, and Allura here will wear a cute swimsuit and-“ Lance abruptly stopped, his face taking on a bright red hue as he quickly glanced to Allura, looking equally red in the face. “And-“ Lance cleared his throat, though his face still glowed, “and we can play beach volleyball, and have a swimming race... or something.” 

Keith had no idea why Lance was so shaken, or why Allura hadn’t hit him for the swimsuit comment, but he just shrugged.

“Sure, I’ve never been to the beach. That sounds… fun?” 

Lance’s face went from bright red to very pale in an instant. 

“You’ve never been to the beach?!” He screeched, grabbing hold of Keith’s shoulders, “Keith! Keiiiiiiiith! My man, I am going to change your life!”

Keith was so shocked by Lance’s enthusiasm he just nodded quickly. “Yeah, that… sounds… good? Good.” 

“Great,” Lance assured, before he quickly darted a look to the still-red Allura, “if… if that’s ok with you, Princess?” 

“I, yes, that seems… like it would be a lot of fun, Lance,” Allura smiled at him and Lance went red all over again. 

“Great… sweet… we’ll.. we’ll do that.” 

Keith really had no idea what was going on here, but something low in his stomach twisted uncomfortably. Why were Allura and Lance acting so strangely? Come to think of it, Lance hadn’t even attempted to flirt with Allura until the thing he’d said about swimsuits. And for Lance, that was way too mild to even be considered a pickup line. 

As he watched Allura give Lance a shy smile, blush still high on her cheeks, Keith realised that whatever was happening here, he didn’t much care for at all.


	2. Keith's Terrible, Terrible Mistake

The next few weeks passed by dizzyingly quickly.

Keith had spent quite some time confined to his hospital bed under the watchful eye of both the nurses and his mother. Lance may mock him for his reckless tendencies, but he had enough self-preservation to not even try going against their orders. If the choice was between fighting Sendak again or crossing his mother, he knew he’d take the psychotic fuzzball every time.

Embarrassingly, he was the last of the Paladins to be discharged – a fact both Lance and Pidge found particularly hilarious.  

“Wow, guys, guess our illustrious team leader has _finally_ decided to leave his comfy cosy bed,” Lance drawled to the group as Keith took his first steps outside the hospital doors.

“Maybe after all this sleep he’ll be less cranky?” Pidge suggested with a wicked grin before having to swiftly dodge Keith’s objecting swing of his arm, “or not, I suppose.”

“No, no, Keith’s the cranky one guys! It’s like, his thing,” Hunk slung a friendly arm over Keith’s shoulders, making him stagger a little under the heavy weight, “Keith’s the cranky one, I’m the friendly one, Pidge is the mad scientist, Allura is the Pious Princess, and Lance is…” Hunk shot a look at Lance who was grinning expectantly, “Lance is the dumb one,” Hunk concluded with a shrug.

“I AM NOT THE DUMB ONE!”

 A couple of elderly women at the taxi rank looked at their group in shock, and Lance weakly offered a sheepish wave of the hand to them.

“I am not the dumb one,” he continued in a more subdued tone, “and I’m going to kill Bob for that the next time I see him, _if that even is his real name.”_

Hunk just laughed, the force of it shaking Keith, still trapped under his arm. Lance sulked and it twisted Keith’s stomach enough to do something.

“Lance is right actually,” he began.

“Really…” Pidge said dubiously as Allura shot up her eyebrows.

“Mmhmm, he’s not the dumb one.”

“Keith!” Lance’s eyes shone and he looked at Keith like he had just given him the world.

“He’s more of the…. Loveable idiot.” Keith smirked at the blue-eyed boy now sticking his bottom lip out in the most exaggerated pout he could surely muster.

The group laughed and Lance leaned up to Keith’s ear to whisper, “I’ll get you for that one, fly boy.”

Keith thought the flips in his stomach must have been the result of breathing fresh air for the first time in weeks.

“Well I think there’s someone back at the Garrison waiting to see you again, Keith,” Allura smiled warmly.

“Let’s go.”

  

+++

  

Shiro had visited Keith many times during his stay in hospital, but nothing quite prepared him for the flood of affection he felt when he saw the man back at the Garrison.

 “It’s good to see you back on two feet again, Keith,” Shiro smiled as he pulled Keith in for a tight hug, “let’s see if you can stay on them this time, yeah?”

“Says the man who just keeps managing to die,” Keith muffled out from his position clutched tightly to Shiro’s chest and felt his laughter vibrating against him.

 “I guess you got me there.”

 “Awww! Group hug!”

 And Keith was suddenly forced even closer to Shiro by Lance’s arms wrapping around them both, promptly followed by that of Hunk, Pidge, Allura, Romelle, and then most enthusiastically by a weeping Coran.

 “I’m so glad you’re all ok!” Coran managed to get out around his shuddering sobs, “look at us all together again!”

 A loud yip had Keith turning and getting a face full of Kosmo-hair as the excited space dog leaped into his arms.

 “Hey, buddy! Missed me, huh?”

 And Keith hadn’t meant this moment to be a group experience at all, but he just couldn’t bring himself to be mad about it right now.

  

+++

 

“Ok, so I’m going to say it one more time for emphasis. Voltron. Beach. Party.”

 It was possibly the most serious Keith had ever seen Lance, barring life or death situations involving his loved ones. He hadn’t stopped pacing in front of them for the past half hour.

 “Lance, yes, I heard you the last hundred times,” Keith sighed, “I’m all for a vacation, but we have to wrap up some loose ends here before we go off to have fun.”

 Keith had been back in the Garrison for no more than a few hours before he, Allura and Lance found themselves having an impromptu team meeting in one of the conference rooms.

 “I agree with Keith,” Allura chipped in with an apologetic smile, “I’m afraid we can’t just leave your humans completely alone right after shocking them with a complete integration of aliens and their technology.”

 “And I get that. Look, all I’m saying is we,” his eyes flashed quickly to Keith, “really need to take a break right now. It’s just been one thing after another for so long. My eye bags have bags!”

 “Truly, a devastation to humanity,” Keith deadpanned, “however will we carry on.”

 “Somehow… we must persevere,” Allura played along, her fist clenching her heart in faux anguish.

 “You know what, screw you guys,” Lance sulked and sat down at last, “I’m just trying to do something fun for the team.”

 Keith heaved a heavy sigh. He didn’t realise how truly important this was to Lance. 

 “Look, Lance. I know you are and I… appreciate it. I promise we will all go on a beach trip as soon as we can, ok?” He laid a hand on Lance’s shoulder and tried to look as genuine as he could. The whole openly caring for people was still _hard_ , dammit.

 “You promise?” And there was Lance’s puppy dog eyes again.

 Keith shared a long-suffering look with Allura over his shoulder and saw her feebly smiling back. They were both helpless in the face of a pleading Lance, and Lance definitely knew that.

 “I promise.”

 As Lance gave a blinding smile Keith wondered when exactly he had gotten so weak.

  

+++

 

“Why do humans have to be so… so difficult!”

 Romelle stomped her foot as she crossed her arms and glared at the reports sitting in front of her.

 “I ask myself that every damn day,” Keith nodded sagely.

 Romelle flickered her gaze his way and snorted. “I guess you’d know more than most, huh.”

 “You betcha.”

 “It’s just – look at this. There’s been thirteen reported altercations in the main social hub just yesterday! _Thirteen_! What are people so angry for?! We just saved their planet! They should be _celebrating!_ ”

 “Yep. We saved the planet alright. From a group of evil aliens that to the people of Earth, probably all look exactly the same as the new, friendly aliens. People here aren’t really good at making that kind of distinction.”

 Keith had been reading similar reports all afternoon. Fights breaking out at insanely high rates in the mixed areas. All examples of humans apparently feeling threatened by the new extra-terrestrial presence.

 “I don’t really know what we can expect though. It’s not like they have much experience with aliens,” Keith sighed and clicked his pen a couple of times.

 “What they need is a good role model for aliens, you know? Like a figurehead or something for them to be like, ‘oh I guess aliens aren’t that bad after all!’”

 “Yeah well, I don’t suppose you know any volunteers, unless you’re up for the job?” Keith quirked his eyebrow her way.

 “Hmm, I’m flattered but no. I doubt I’ll be staying on Earth long enough for it to be a viable option.”

 “Exactly. You and the rest of the aliens here. No one’s looking to make a permanent base here. And even if they did, why would the humans care about that one alien in particular?”

 “It’d be good if we had an Earth born alien though… hmm…” Romelle said suspiciously casually as she looked down at her papers again, “Maybe an alien who had… oh I don’t know… saved the planet or something along those lines?”

 Keith’s heart stuttered and he looked at her incredulously, “please tell me you aren’t suggesting what I think you’re suggesting.”

 Romelle threw her papers down, pretence lost. “Look Keith, whether you like it or not, Earth is going to need some kind of reason to _trust_ aliens. You said it yourself, all they’ve experienced since learning about aliens is death, torture and enslavement. We – _You_ – need to show them that’s not all there is to life outside their own planet!”

 Keith felt his hackles raise, “and your solution is to, to what exactly!? To make _me_ the face of the human-alien alliance? Romelle, I’m barely Galra at all!”

 “You’re perfect! Just alien enough that it’s not too frightening for the humans, but still _Galra_ , the species that caused all this mess! If they’ll accept a Galra they’ll accept anyone!”

 “Gee, thanks…” Keith rubbed tiredly at his forehead. “Romelle, it’s just not a good idea. I’m hardly the type of personality to make a good figurehead. Besides, if Voltron’s needed anywhere I’ll have to leave straight away. I’m probably not going to be staying in the Milky Way for long either.”

 Romelle grinned, “that hardly matters when you’re the saviour of the planet, now, does it? Besides, the political stuff? You can always learn it, you know. Like you said, you probably won’t even have to be on Earth for long to deal with it anyway.”

 “Allura…” Keith protested.

 “- is too alien-y. An alien princess of a long dead race? That’s too fantastical for the humans to properly grasp.”

 “Yeah, but…” Keith frowned when he realised he couldn’t think of an argument.

 “…but..?” Romelle smirked.

 Keith pointed a finger at her, “this isn’t over,” he said threateningly. But Romelle just smiled like she’d already won.

 “Excellent! I’ll start making preparations!” she stood up, a new sense of vigour in her eyes and Keith had a sudden realisation that he had made a terrible, terrible mistake.

 “Obviously, red is going to be your colour, but do you have a good side?” She leaned over and grabbed Keith’s chin to move it slowly side to side, “nevermind, your right is _definitely_ your best side with that Galra mark, huh.”

 “I… what?”

 “We’ll have to make you look Galra-y for the posters, obviously!”

 “Posters?” Keith said weakly.

 He had definitely made a terrible mistake.

 

+++

 

“So let me get this straight,” Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose, “you’ve been somehow appointed the figurehead of aliens on Earth.”

 “Yep.”

 “You, a quarter-Galra who doesn’t know his own age.”

 “Yep.”

 “Who has a temper similar to a bull.”

 “Yep.”

 “Being put into a highly sensitive political position.”

 “Yep.”

 There was a beat of silence.

 “Well good luck, buddy.”

 “Thanks, Shiro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Suddenly realises at some point imma get to write the equivalent of that Beach Anime EpisodeTM* 
> 
> Also, adding pretty significant plot details on the fly because, how ARE humans reacting to aliens suddenly being on Earth??? No one has talked about that wtf. I actually think it makes a lot of sense that a lot of the post-war effort will need to be soothing the relations between aliens and humans. 
> 
> Also! Romelle and Keith don't talk to each other at all in S7, but I love me some mlm and wlw solidarity. 
> 
> And a question for y'all! Would you prefer less frequent longer chapters, or more frequent of these shorter length ones? Lemme know!


	3. Chapter 3

In one of his first true moments of peace since returning to Earth, Keith found himself half-dozing on the couch next to Lance playing video games.

“I’m going to destroy this turtle, man. This turtle is going _down_.”

Keith had no idea what Lance was shouting about, but he found the screeching to be oddly calming. He blamed the years in space for messing up his sense of normalcy. As it was, he found it hard to keep his eyes open while Lance practically shuddered with frustration next to him.

“Oh, come on! That was so unfair! The game must be cheating! Right, Keith!?... Keith?”

“Mmm?” Keith mumbled a little at the sense he was being asked something, “mmhmm totally.”

“You’re not even listening to me, are you. You’d never agree with me that easily.”

Keith pried his eyes open to see Lance glaring suspiciously at him.

“No,” Keith protested, “I was totally listening.”

“Yeah? What did I just say, then?”

“Er… that… the turtle… killed you…?” Keith tried his best to recall the vague snippets he had heard.

“Well, I mean you’re not _wrong_ , but I totally know you weren’t listening! I can tell these things, you know!”

“Uh-huh.”

Keith rubbed his eyes tiredly. He had been working nonstop since coming back to the Garrison. The Paladins had all been pushing hard in various fields since being discharged from the hospital. Hunk was working in engineering, trying to figure out the best way to integrate the different kinds of alien technology into shields and power generations that could be feasibly used on Earth. Pidge was up to her ears (almost literally, she was _very_ short) in wires and metal as she tried to create an AI to be used in the Atlas, as well as to be used in a more commercial setting on Earth. Allura, Romelle, and Coran were all trying to provide as much Alteaen knowledge to Earth as they could, including all they knew about successful diplomatic integration of alien cultures and peace treaties. Keith knew that Lance was working much more hands on among the people, roaming the streets of the main social hub and quelling any violence that erupted with his easy charm and humour. And Keith was working mainly by providing flight and combat training to newer cadets. But lately it was Romelle taking up most of his time with –

“Are you ever going to tell me what has you so tired these days? I swear it’s so rare to see you, and I have no idea what you’re up to apart from training up the kiddies.” Lance narrows his eyes at Keith, “you’re not spending all your time on the training deck, are you? You know the doctors said to take it easy.”

“I’m not spending all my time on the training deck.” Keith said, but offered no more.

“Mmhmm…”

“Really. I haven’t even been there outside my lessons with the ‘kiddies’, who, by the way, are probably older than you are, you know.”

Lance scoffed, “and how do you know that? I don’t even know my own age, anymore!” He said in a joking way, but Keith could see real pain behind his eyes. “And besides, after all these years as a Paladin, everyone seems like a kiddie to me.”

Keith couldn’t really argue with that, so just hummed in agreeance. “They do seem… very young,” he admitted, remembering his lessons where, despite how much he opposed it, his cadets would unwaveringly call him ‘sir’.

“They’re practically babies! I swear, I was never that young.”

“Please, I remember you being that young, just like the rest of us, Lance.”

“But I was never that – hang on.” Lance turned to face Keith straight on. “HANG ON.”

“What…?” Keith stared back in alarm.

“YOU _DO_ REMEMBER!”

“I- Lance, what are you talking about?”

“YOU REMEMBER ME FROM THE ACADEMY. I _KNEW_ IT.” Lance’s face had taken on a rather vicious jubilation.

Keith’s face flushed in realisation. The words _‘oh… you’re the cargo pilot’_ rang through his head. He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.

“Ok, _yes_. Yes, I remember you from back then. Relax, would you?”

“Relax?! _RELAX_? Keith, you’ve been lying to me for _years_.”

Keith was shaken by Lance’s vehemence. “Is it really that big a deal?”

“Of course it–“ Lance slumped back down in his seat, excitement draining from his frame. “Yes, it’s a big deal, ok?”

Keith sighed. Here he goes again; being weak for this boy.

“Well then I’m… sorry,” the words felt like they had to be forced out of Keith’s throat. “I’m sorry for acting like I didn’t remember you back then. It was… it was a weird time.”

There was silence for a long time. An insanely long time considering Lance was in the room.

“You’re forgiven,” he finally said, and Keith looked up. Lance was looking right at him and his eyes were, so, so soft. Keith felt his stomach lurch and he sucked in a quick breath, surprised by his own reaction.

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

Lances cheeks seemed to darken for just a second before he shot his gaze quickly back to the television.

“Ok, Keith! I challenge you! One-on-one! Bring it!”

Awkward tension in the room dissipating, Keith took the controller Lance was handing him. “Oh, you’ll regret this, _fly boy_.”

 

+++

 

Keith found himself having another one of _those_ meetings the next day.

What had started as Romelle sharing her ideas to him one afternoon had turned into an actual committee. About ten people sat around a board room table, pen in hand and ideas flowing. Keith felt like a rabbit cowering under a spotlight in his cage, as they each looked at him judiciously, talking about how best to _sell_ him as a friendly, approachable neighbourhood alien. Keith had tried to correct them that he was anything _but_ friendly, but that seemed to land on deaf ears. At least Allura and Shiro were both part of the committee too. Though on the other hand, he didn’t much like them being able to see him so uncomfortable.

“Is it really necessary to make Keith into some sort of public icon? Can he not just be shown as an example without all this extra fanfare?” Shiro asked the room.

Bless Shiro. His oldest friend. His brother. A man that truly understood-

“No.” Was Iverson’s gruff reply.

Well. At least he tried.

“Don’t you think it’ll be a problem, though?” Keith asked and all eyes snapped on him. “My not really looking alien, though. I mean, I was born and raised on Earth. I’m really more human than anything.”

Iverson scoffed beside him, “you’re telling me! I never would have thought one of my cadets was an alien, that’s for sure.”

“Yes, Keith will have to make his heritage known to the entire world,” Allura confirmed, her brows drawn together in concern. “It will mean he will no longer be able to pass as a complete human anymore. Any kind of anonymity he has now will be gone.”

“I’m pretty sure anonymity was out of the picture as soon as he became a Paladin,” Shiro pointed out.

“True, but he will soon be known to the general public as part Galra, the race that enslaved Earth. So many humans are antagonistic towards aliens, surely we have cause to worry about his personal safety?”

Keith was touched by Allura’s concern, but his personal safety wasn’t exactly the main worry on his mind. “To be honest, I’m actually more worried I’ll mess this up somehow,” Keith looked down at his hands, uncharacteristically timid. “I don’t exactly have a good track record on Earth.”

Romelle reached over and took his hand, “Maybe not on Earth, but that’s not who you are anymore. You’re the leader of Voltron, pilot of the Black Lion. I wouldn’t have suggested you do this if I didn’t think you would be good at it.”

Keith looked up at her and held her gaze before turning to face the rest of the room. They all looked back at him with eyes full of confidence, and Keith knew that somehow, he’d be able to do this.

“Ok, I’ll do my best.”

It was as though the entire room let out a breath at the same time, their relief at knowing Keith was willing to do this tangible in the air.

“And don’t worry Keith! We’ll do our best to make sure your coming out goes smoothly!” Romelle chimed brightly and Keith choked on his own spit.

“I’m sorry?” he spluttered.

“Your coming out?” She tilted her head in confusion, “as part Galra?”

“O-Oh. Yeah. Thanks.”

Keith sat with his heart still thudding loudly in his ears as a couple of seats over, Shiro dropped his head in his hands and sighed tiredly.

 

+++

 

“For the last time, Romelle. I’m _not_ going to wear makeup for this.”

Keith batted a fluffy brush away from his face for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

“But Keiiiith,” Romelle pouted, her cheeks puffing out, “you’ve gotta look nice for your photoshoot!”

They were huddled over in the corner of a small room, cameras and lights set up facing a red backdrop hung on the wall in the centre. Men and women, human and alien, bustled around shouting for things that Keith wouldn’t even pretend to understand.

“And what’s wrong with my normal face? – Don’t answer that,” he interrupted by holding up a hand as he saw Romelle about to say exactly what was wrong with his face. “It’s just kinda weird, isn’t it?”

“Weird? Why? Don’t you want to look pretty?”

“No, not really.”

“Reeeeeally?” Romelle waggled her eyebrows up and down, “not even to look pretty for a certain someone?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing,” she grinned wickedly, “just maybe thought you might like it if certain people paid more attention to you”

“What is that supposed to mean,” Keith questioned, genuinely confused. “Why would I want more attention?”

Romelle just looked at him, dumbfounded. “Oh, my god, you’re an idiot.”

“Hey-“

“No. Just. Accept it. You are. I’m-“ She seemed to take a moment to collect herself. “Ok I’ll let you figure it out on your own, though it pains me to do so.”

“Wow, you’re rude today,” Keith grumbled.

“And you’re an idiot everyday,” she responded cheerily. “Ok, but seriously Keith, we’ve gotta do makeup for this kind of photoshoot. You’ve just gotta suck it up.”

Keith felt his fight or flight response kick in and started to rise from his chair, muscles preparing to run. But before he could, strong, _strong_ hands grasped his shoulders and pushed him back down. Turning around he saw dark skin and white hair and knew there was no escaping this hold.

“Allura,” he said, as form of greeting, gritting his teeth against the force on his shoulders.

“Keith,” she smiled, and frankly, Keith was terrified.

“Oh! Good! Allura you’re here, thanks for coming!” Romelle was straight back to her cheery self as she greeted the Princess.

“It’s no problem at all, Romelle,” Keith noticed Romelle’s cheeks brightening at the women exchanged glances. “Anything to help, really!”

“Yes, Allura, thanks so much for coming,” Keith said sarcastically. “Now I’ll just be on my way for this photo thing, if you’ll excuse me.” He winced as the grip on his shoulders tightened.

“I believe you’re forgetting one thing, aren’t you, Keith?” Allura said sweetly, “Romelle? _Get him._ ”

And that’s how Keith experienced his first makeover.

 

+++

 

Keith walked back to his room in a sort of daze.

All he could see was the blinking lights of the camera, the calls of “now give me _powerful_! Now give me _sultury_!” Like Keith knew what any of that was. Why did a promotional shoot have to be so complicated, anyway?

He found himself missing the days of relaxing or training in the Castle of Lions. Just a few people around him at all times, the complete and eerie silence of space always surrounding them. He just wasn’t used to being around so many people all the time. It was loud, and overwhelming. Maybe he could get a few hours of training in; that always seemed to clear his mind.

Abruptly changing his route to go and visit the training deck, he turned a corner and smacked into something very hard and strong, and in his dazed state, he fell back with a thud.

“Keith?”

Keith looked up and saw Lance staring worriedly back at him.

“Hey buddy, are you ok? It normally takes much more than that to bring you down.”

“Ahh, yeah,” Keith responded, picking himself up and brushing himself off before Lance could offer, “Just thinking about things, I guess.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

They stood rather awkwardly in silence for a few moments.

“So-“

“Well-“

Keith cringed as they both tried to speak at the same time. Lance, on the other hand, just laughed and waved a hand.

“You go first,” he insisted.

“Well, I. I was just heading over to do some training.” Keith mumbled, still embarrassed about being so out of it to run into him in the first place.

Lance’s eyes brightened, “Oh yeah? I was actually thinking… well… do you want to spar together? It’s been, like, months and months, dude. Since the Castle of Lions.”

Keith watched Lance’s face fall at the mention of their lost home, and there was really no other response he could give. “Yeah, man, let’s spar.”

Lance’s whole face lit up and he slung an arm around Keith’s shoulders and they both turned to walk to the training room.

“So, what have you been up to today that has made you so out of it?” Lance asked as they made their way.

“Oh, just a bit of this and that, you know.” Keith’s cagey response got an annoyed look from Lance, not that he was surprised about it. Of all the paladins, Keith just felt weird about telling Lance about his new position. It just. Wasn’t something he wanted to share anytime soon.

“Oh, ok then. Secret, _cool_ stuff. Gotcha,” was Lance’s wry response before he sighed, “one day you’re going to tell me things, you know.”

Keith snorted, “I already tell you things… mostly.”

“Suuure you do, and – hey Keith?” Lance’s voice came out strangled and Keith turned to look at him in question, “Are you wearing makeup?”

Keith felt his whole face flush with an intense heat and his hands immediately came up to hide his face.

“No.”

“Oh. My god. Keith.” Lance ripped Keith’s hands from his face and looked at him so intensely Keith felt he was about to combust. “You _are_!”

Keith shut his eyes tight and prepared himself for the words of torment and ridicule.

“Urgh, I can’t believe you used that brow colour. Next time you’ve gotta let me do it, ok?”

Keith’s eyes shot open. “What?”

“The brow colour? You used grey! It might make you look a little less intimidating, but man, you should just own the black, you know?”

“My… brow colour.” Keith felt as if he had entered the Twilight Zone.

“If you were interested, you could have just come to me for help you know,” Lance sniffed, beginning to continue the walk to the training deck.

“I didn’t do it to myself, and I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“Oh? Who did it then?”

Keith fumbled, his face heating up at the thought of trying to explain the whole ‘I was doing a photoshoot for my promotional posters’ thing to Lance. “Romelle did it.”

Lance’s eyebrows shot up. “Romelle? I didn’t know you guys were close.”

 Keith cleared his throat, trying to get his temperature back to normal. “Oh yeah, we hang out pretty often now, I guess.”

“Oh.”

Keith looked up at the sound of Lance’s strange tone.

“Is that…. A problem?”

Lance shook his head and sent a quick smile Keith’s way. “No, no! I just. I didn’t know I guess? Haha…”

“Ok.”

And there was the awkward silence again. Keith wished they would just arrive at the training room already. Hitting things was always a good alternative to awkward silences.

“Do you…,“ Lance started.

“… do I?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. Hey! We’re almost there. I’ll race ya! I bet you’re slower after all that hospital time, huh?”

“You really think so?”

And with that, they shot off to the training room, leaving shocked cadets scattering in their wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love my awkward boys. I also love my beautiful lesbians. 
> 
> I thought about waiting a couple days to upload this but nah, let's just post it now. God knows the fandom needs something after S7. So! Here's another chapter straight after the last one lol. 
> 
>  
> 
> I wanted to thank everyone for all the comments, kudos and bookmarks! I've never written for this fandom before, so comments are so appreciated to let me know I'm going ok! Thank you so so so much!


End file.
